A: “APA” is the acronym for the American Psychological Association. When you see the term “APA” in your Canvas classes and/or assignments, it is referring to APA style. A “style” is a specific format you use to: 1. Reference (or cite) other people’s ideas and words; 2. Format your writing. You can think of it as a style guide, like magazines and websites use. APA style is the style guide for the American Psychological Association, and it is the required style to be used for all coursework completed at ACHS.
We have selected APA style for several reasons. Primarily, it is the backbone of many publication-specific house styles, and it is the accepted style for academic writing in the scientific disciplines. All your work at ACHS should be formatted using APA style references and citations.
The APA website has examples and explanations of the basic style requirements. They also have posted an online tutorial for how to use APA style, which you can find online here: http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm
You can find more examples in the “Citations & References: APA Basics & Tutorial” lecture located in the Start Here module of your Canvas class.
Additional examples are available on the OWL online writing lab website here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/